Page 13 of Bound to Him

“That’s not unusual. But what’s up?” Antonio asked, looking straight ahead very seriously.

“What do you mean?”

“I dunno, man. You’re a little more cranky than usual. Is it the marriage thing?”

I thought about what was on my mind. Olivia. Sometimes I thought of Viola and the marriage, yes, but it was always back to Olivia. There was the fact that I didn’t want to get married, the fact that I didn’t want to get married to Viola specifically, the fact that she’s Tony’s sister, and of course, the fact that I’d rather be balls deep in his other sister, to put it frankly.

“Yeah, I guess it is.”

He eyed me from the side. “You wanna talk it over?”

“What’s there to talk about? You givin’ me an out?”

“No.”

“Didn’t think so.”

“But you’re allowed to be pissed.”

I sighed, dropping my head back. “It’s not that I’m pissed. It’s that I have no fucking control over what happens in my life. What work I do, what secrets I keep, which girl I marry, where I live, who I get to fuck.”

“Well shit,” Antonio chuckled, “the list was longer than I expected.”

I stayed silent, not having much else to say. My brother repositioned himself in his seat before launching into his speech.

“Look, Hux, I know it feels like you’re alone in this, that everyone else has what they want. But give yourself some perspective here; we were all under Pop’s thumb. I had no choice about becoming the boss around here. But, granted, I did choose my own wife. Now unfortunately, you don’t get to choose your wife, but you certainly get to choose what work you do. Don’t ever feel like you can’t talk to me about where your passions lie.”

“My passions?” I asked, almost mockingly.

“Yeah, man. You wanna fight professionally? We’ll hook you up, back you with our God-given name. You wanna keep running the club? That’s fine, too. I mean fuck, you wanna open a bakery with Zia Maria? Go aheadgoomba.”

I couldn’t help but laugh now, shaking my head and feeling the stress lift from my shoulders. My brother and I didn’t get much time to talk, and I was remembering now how much I enjoyed it. He laughed with me before sobering again and finishing his thought.

“My point is that there are things under your control. You’re the Moretti underboss for Christ's sake; talk to me and we can figure something out. But right now, there’s one thing neither of us can control, and that’s what our father signed before he died.”

I sighed, not loving being reminded that my future hinged on a dead man’s signature.

“He had the right intentions, Hux. He wanted peace between us and our rivalries, a safer future for our children and families. The threats of war on our streets will diminish. Do you see? It’s bigger than us and what we want. It’s about an entire community's safety.”

Shit. When he put it like that, how could I even complain?

“Yeah, alright; alright, boss,” I said with emphasis, sending a smile his way. “I understand. I guess I just need to find a way to get Viola to warm up to me.”

“She was rather icy, wasn’t she?”

“Fratu…” I said, raising my eyebrows in answer, “I thought I heard Jack Frost shivering!”

A burst of chuckles from Antonio had us both in high spirits again.

* * *

“So,fuck-face? You hearing us loud and clear yet?” I asked, excitement lighting up my eyes.

“Yes! Yes, I hear you!” The man sobbed for his life, as expected, since he was hanging from his feet, out of the fifth-floor window. He turned his head toward the boss, who stood leaning casually against the internal wall. “Don Antonio, please forgive me!”

I held onto both his ankles with a tight grip, his legs desperately trying to cling to the windowsill. Luckily the guy was a slim one, and me, not so much. I smiled at my brother, who gave me only the slightest roll of his eyes. He’d never been one to shy away from violence, he just found me to be rather… overly creative at times.

“Mr. Borini, I hope you can explain to me why you’ve been so hard of hearing up until now,” he said calmly. Antonio very rarely showed a constituent his full anger, preferring to keep a professional reputation as opposed to my rep of putting fear into their minds, bodies, and souls.

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